
Glass F"§ O i 
Book i V o 



P8 



NEW MEXICO. 



ADefenceofthePeopleandCountry 



A Reply of Chief Justice Prince to a Slanderous Letter 
in the New York Times. 



[From the New York Times of Feb. 28, 1882.] 



It was only thi'ce or four days ago 
that I saw the Times of Feb. 6 contain- 
ing an anonymous communication dat- 
ed at Trinidad imder th(! rather inele- 
gant title, "Greasers as Citizens ;'' and 
vet I have regretted exceedingly that 
even that time should, by stress of bus- 
iness, necessarily elapse before I could 
express the indignation whicli every 
one familiar with the facts must have 
felt at reading the mass of slanders and 
misrepresentations of which that com- 
munication is composed. 

I have re-i'ead it several times in or- 
der to select the portions which were 
most untrue for contradiction, but the 
result has only been to show that the 
whole is such a string of misrepresenta- 
tions that it is diflicult to p.articularize 
any iK)rtion as worse than another. Tlie j 
motive which cou'd inducer .'uiy man 
thus wantonly to slander and villify 
over a hundred thousand American cit- 
izens seems )nex))licable ; if not ))ure 
malevolence, it must b*; thai strange 
enjoj'ment which some )K'rsons seem to 
feel in, irresponsible newspaper writ- 
ing, which tlicy consider spicy and 
smart in proportion as it is untrue and 
libelous. Tllis tirade ot' abuse has for 
its text the introduction of a Ijill in Con- 



gress to admit New Mexico as a State. 
On that subject I have nothing to say 
now — it will no doubt be considered in 
due time — but I desire to confine this 
letter exclusively to the slanderous 
statements from Trinidad as to our peo- 
ple and Territory. The writer thereof, 
after amiably saying that the admission 
of New Mexico would be "simply de- 
testable," proceeds in these words : 

"Without siatistical authority at 
hand, I think it not far wrong to say 
that about two-thirds of the population 
of the Territory is of the mongrel breed 
known as Mexicans — a mixture of the 
blood of Apache, negro, Navajo, white 
horse-thief, Pueblo Indian, and old- 
time frontiersman with the original 
Mexican stock." 

It is a pity that he did not have the 
l)roper "statistical authority at hand," 
for that might have enlightened him 
considerably. Tiie Unitecl States cen- 
sus, which is probably Mie best "statisti- 
cal authority," would have shown the 
l)()pulation in 1880 to be as follows, not 
including the Apat.'hes and Navajos, 
who are not citizens : Whites, 108.721 ; 
c<iloved, (African descent.) 90S; Chi- 
nese, 16 ; I'ueblo Indians, &c , 9.790. 
His suggestion of a mixture of "negro" 
blood in the gener.'il ))onubTt"'-n i-^ 



BY CHIEF JUSTICE PlilXCK. 



spceiallj" xinfortunato, as Ihe censu;-; of 
ISK) ;-)u)\ved tluiL eyen at as latu a datu 
as thai there were but 127 ])ersons of 
Afi'ichn descent in tlie whole Territory', 
counting; men, wonuin and children. 
'I'he increasii since tlien has mostly 
come from disehargeil soldiers. While 
some (jf the Pueblo villa^-es are quite 
near Spanish townjj, yet no marria<^e 
(tr similar connections take place be- 
tween the races ; tiie^' are as separate 
in sucii respects as if aCiiincsc wall ran 
between. Idlow any Navajo or Apache 
blood can mix with the Mexican in 
these days, when these tribes are on 
reservations far from the centre of poji- 
ulation i ;im at a loss to imagine. The 
fact is thatliiere is not now and has 
not been for'ii long time any such mix- 
lure, with very rare exceptions; fully 
as rare as in other sections of the coun- 
iry where the Caucasian race meets the 
Indian. Then c<nnes the statement : 

■■You may sift aiul rake this Mexican 
l)opuialion, and you will scarcely hnd 
man, woman or child whodoesnot hate 
with a passionate hatred everything 
that is known to him or her as Ameri- 
can . ■ ' 

i should not be at all surprised if the 
.Spanish speaking portion of our citi- 
I'/ieHS'tlitt "hate with a passionate ha- 
tred" the kind of "'American" repre- 
. sented by the writer of that article, and 
i should not think much of their self- 
respect if they ditl not. But that there 
is any such feeling toward Americans 
as a people is simply untrue. Every 
American worthy of social recognition 
who comes here with credentials to 
show that he is worth}', or with the cul- 
ture and manners which bespeak the 
gentleman or latly, will lind a welcome 
Ijotli swift and hearty. No more gen- 
erous hearted, lu)Spitah!e ])eople can be 
found on earth than those of New Mex- 
ico. (,'onsideriiig the number of adven- 
lurers, impostors and swindlers who 
have imposed on lliis generosity and 
liosi}itality in the i>a>t it is almost 
strange that these noble (jualities have 
nol been ultiirly chilhid; hut tiiat sad 
e.\pci'ieiic(! has only tended to make 
Iht; Ntnv Mexican, who originally was 
too conliding and unsusi)icious, beef)me 
(•ircunis[)ecL as to tlu! character of his 
lunv acquaintances; jl lias iioi lessened 
the warmth of welcome In tho^e who 
(leservt! it. 

More than tv.o yeai's ago. in writing 
to ;i metropolitan ne\vspai)er, I said: 
"■The nati\'e ixjpulation are polite, gen- 
erous, and hos])'itable almost to a. fault, 
with no disiil'.e or dislrnst of new com- 



ers of tiie proper class; but inclined to 
welcome gooil citizens from whereso- 
ever they come. Those who choose to 
make New Mexico their home, and 
who are entitled to respect and confi- 
dence, will linil a wcIcoiik; anywheri; 
in th(! Territory, and need have no fear 
of being branded as 'cari)et baggers.' " 

Since then not far from ■3(),0t)() new in- 
habitants have come into th(! Territoi-y 
— certainly a sufficient lest — and I can 
erai)hatically reiterate every word then 
written. Of course, 1 do not mean thtit 
the Mexicans admire the desperadoes, 
roughs, bullies antl "rustler-," who art; 
apt to be found on the borders of civili- 
zation, or the ill-mannered and vulg:n", 
who woukl abuse them because iTieii- 
mother tongue was Spanish instead of 
English. L simply mean that n, wor- 
thy man is as sure of a welcome and 
recognition here as anywheri; in tiie 
country, and that no such prejudice ex- 
ists as your correspondimt suggests. It 
may be atlded here tiiat the native peo- 
ple of New Mexico liad an ojjportunity 
once to show their loyalty to American 
institutions by somethijig more sub- 
stantial than words, and that their pat- 
riotic response in th(! time of the re- 
bellion was mad(! by furnishing over 
(i,0()0 men to the union army, a larger 
numlier in proportion totlui population 
than could be boasted of l)y luiiny of 
tlie most loyal states. 

It is tru(! that the educational condi- 
tion f)f the Territory is not allogether 
as we could wish. Two centuries of 
practical isolation naturally had a bad 
eflect in tlus res))ect, but this is being 
rapidly remedied. One (piarter of the 
entire regular taxation is (hn'oteij to 
])ublie schools by law, and there tire ex- 
cellent educational establisiiments of 
iiigli grade :it Santa. Fe. I^as Vegas. 
Taos. Bernalillo, All)U(pier(pie. Socorro. 
Las Cruces, Mesilla. Silvei- City, and 
other points. On ihis subject, also, 
your curresixitnleiil grf)ssly exagger- 
ates. When he says: "Who](>coiintles 
might be searched before a man coulii 
be fo uiid able to giv(! tlie name of the 
1^-esident ot the United Stales," lit- 
simply stales whnt is untrue. I state 
this uiKpialiliedly from ])ersonai 
knowledge. The six counties thrf)ugh 
whieli I am eonst:intly traveling in- 
clude those most remote from imIuc;!- 
tion;il cent(!»s and new inlluences, yvt 
everywhere houses were drai)ed wit'i 
mourning at the death of (Jcuieral (ia;-- 
lield and the day of his funeral litly ob- 
served. 1 doubt whc'ther in any town 
of its size in the ianii that d:iv was as 



BV CniRF .lUSTU'K J'RINX'E 



fully and solennily observed as in Santa respcjct and fallen from virtue, is no 
Fe. Tlier(! are lo-da.y nearly' forty doubt true; and in a country where 
no\vsi>apers in tin; Territory, and <)f i large bodies of soldiers linue be(?,n sta- 
tlieso eight or ten arc; daily. Part are tioned for years, where the foreign ele- 
l)rinted in English, jiart m Spanish, uient nntirrecently did not have i)erma- 
-md pai't in both languages. This surely ^ nent homes and families and where Ihe 
i-^ not an evidence of dense ignorance. ' ))()))idation ;is a rule is poor, there may 
Where is the ))opidati(>u of similar num- i have i)cen more looseness of this kind 
!)ers anywhere in the east that supj)orts i!i;in in the settled communities of the 
so many newspapers? cast. Butthe statement of your corres- 

Your eorres|)ondent next speaks of,| poudent, as relating to tin' jiopulation 
the ])olitical charactiu- of the peojilc. I in general, is a slander so vile, atroei- 
and I only refer to this to cite two ex- ! ous, and abominable, that words can- 
amples showing how little he really ! not litly characterize it. I1u- man who 
knows of our peopU;, or else how heed- ' would thus wantonly braml with infamy 
lessly lie wrd(;s. lie alludes to a man j the wives, daughters and sisters of a 
being a "Demecratico"' and to the poll- 1 whole people is unlit for decent society 
(;y or '"the Denincraticos.'' No.v, per- j or tin; cre<lenee of respectable men. 
liaps in Colorado they have such ]>co- | No more liigh-bred, noble, and pure- 
])le, but in New Mexico they have no j minded women are to beseen on ('ai'th 
sucih men as "Democraticos." Possibly i tlian among the Spaniards of New 
he intendtul to spc^akof "Dcmocratas." j Mexico. They are brought up witli a 
'I'hen twice he referred to "whisky'' as : cart; similar to that seen in Europe, 
the great agent of bribery at (deciions. I :ind which seems :ilmost too strict to n>; 
I had supi)osed that it was generally j who arc accustomed to the freedom of 
known that noim of the Latin races girl lifo in gt-neral in the United States, 
were grciat drinkers. As a matter of j From this difference in etlucation 
fact. It w^^s an nnUimwn artitdc in New j they are more modest and less stdf-as- 
I\I(!\ico luitil after the AuHU-ican oc(;u- ! serting than most American girls; but 
l)ation, and never has become generall.y it he system produces good danghtcn'^ 
])()i)ular amongthe people. The native ' faithful wives ami nobk; matrons. Any 
wjiie which .they usually (lo drink is rme whose (diarsujter givesjhim eutrancd 
far less dangerous bevei-age. | to the society of the respectable classes 

This brings me to ai)artof tli(!Comniu- i will lind tins true, both in town am 
nication to which I cannot alfiub! with- ciuintry, in the itl.-iza and on the ranch, 
outablusli tlialit was written by a fellow Tlui virtiu! of our fjj)untrywomen is too 
countryman— that in which he virtually sacred a thing to be tlippantly slandtu- 
proclaims tlial the entire female native ed, wholesale, by any writer, and least 
))opulation of New Mexico are devoid of all by one who is nameless. 
1)1 morality, :iml set a money price up- No people have been mor^ misunder- 
1)11 their virtue. In his own words: stood in tin; remainder of the country 

'.It is a ])a1ent, notorious fact, Ijlaz- than tiie^jnativiv* of New Mexico. J'hey 
oning itself forward with startling bold- have been judged by the few roi.gii 
ness, that in no other ))art of Christen- characters lirst met upon the bcnnler. 
(lom are the wonu^a of an entire com- and from <!xaggiu-ated accounts of the 
munit\' so generally without a sense of fi^vts of some wiUl (bisi)erado, until the 
ihe lieauties of virtue and so ready toojiinion b(!(;ain(; prevalent tiiat they 
prove their inscnsiltility for a money were a set of '•bold, bad men,"" law- 
consideration.'' ' les^, violeiil. and regardless oi life! 

That any man iioni of woman, and l-lut how would we Knglisii-speakiiig 
perchance witli sisters and daughters .\niericans like to be judged by the 
whom hti respects,, should make such a rough and r(u;kless men of the border 
wholesal(! denunciation, isbeyond com- or the (U^speradoes v,-ho have been 
pr(di<'nsi(jn. Kitlier In; wiifully and forced by law from settled communi- 
wickedly savs what lu; knows is lintrue. nities an'd live on murder :uiil iilunder? 
or (,'lse he ei'iualy wickedly slanders hi-^ .Vs.malter of fact, the JSIexican popu- 
ncighbors without knowiedge. It lie ialion i-^ (|uiet. orderly, and law-abid- 
has never bei-n ill New Mexico, Ik; has iiig. Nm people, nrobably, similarv 
no right to si)eak. If he i)as been here situated i-; so much so. Tin; crimes n( 
I (;:uronly express pity that he should ' violence in this Territory are nearly all 
have iiaif no oi)portu!iiiy to associati: , (••^nimiUed by tli(; bnvless set of men 
with any class i-xceiii those whom he ^ who followeii the, advanct; of the rail- 
iiescribe's. That there niay be; women i road iiit:) Nt;w Mexico, and iiave now, 
heri' as (dsewhere. who liave lost seU- fortunately, mostly moved on or been 



BY CHIEF JUSTICE PRINCE 




killed oif. To use the words of the 
(xovernor of the Ten-itory in a recent 
report to the Secretary of "the Interior : 

"The people of the Territory have 
frequently given substantial evidence 
that they are a well-disposed, patriotic, 
and liberty loving people The native 
population are seldom guilty of hein- 
ous crimes. Most of the desperadoes 
who have recently infested the Terri- 
tory, and those still at large within 
her borders, are adventurers from other 
localities." 

Those who have opportunities of 
meeting socially the better classes of 
the people will all concur that a more 
courteous, hospitable, and chivalric 
social element does tot exist in the 
land. They are fit representatives of 
the land of the Cid, aad successors of 
the historic discoverers and conquerors 
of the soil. It is not necessary to come 
to New Mexico to know this. The 
Times must have thousands of readers 
who, within the last five years, have 
met the representatives of the Terri- 
tory in Washington — Messrs. Trinidad 
Romero, Mariano S. Otero, and Tran- 
quilino Luna — and who know from 
them what a New Mexican gentleman 
is. So much for the population so 
maligned b3^ your "orrespondent. I '"t 
me add a word of the Territory and its 
prospects, which are also unfairly rep- 
resented by him. 

Within the past three years about 
20,000 new citizens have come to New 
Mexico. They constitute a valuable 
and welcome population. The rougher 
set who came with the railroad have, 



fortunately, passed on. These 20,000 
are men of energy and enterprise, 
equal in working ability to 50,000 who 
stay where they are born. No other 
part of the country h is had the railroad 
development that Nev/ Mexico has re- 
ceived since 1879. No State or Terri- 
tory can show such rapid and substan- 
tial growth in its towns as are found at 
Las Vegas, Santa Fe, Albuquei'que, So- 
corro, Raton, and a dozen other places. 
And, to put a great deal in a few 
word, there is no State or Territoiy in 
the whole country, except California, 
which possesses the variety of natural 
resources with which New Mexico is 
blessed. It has gold and silver in 
abundance, but it does not have to de- 
pend on its product of precious metals 
as do Colorado and Nevada. Its beds 
of coal alone would make it a great 
State; it has the only anthracite in the 
Southwest, and bituminous is found in 
all sections. The rich valleys of the 
Pecos, Rio Grand«^, Canadian and San 
fjuan present a tine Held for agriculture. 
Its vast prairies are the home of im- 
mense herds of cattle and flocks of 
sheep. It possesses the finest fruit belt 
of the Southwest, and has for a market 
the whole country between the Missis- 
sippi and the Rocky Mountain'^ Alto- 
gether, its future is promising beyoncL 
compare. It is in no hurry to |be a 
State, but its progress will necessarily 
make it in a short time a great and im- 
portant one. 

• L. Bradford Prince. 

Santa Fe, February, 20, 1882. 



